This thread is going to be the same as the last 20 about the same subject... TOWER SPEAKERS.

I have an idea for all of the people in Northern California or anyone who wants to take a visit to Sacramento. What if I picked a weekend to have a demo/get together day. Lets get a boat and install all of the tower speakers on it that are always in question, wire up a few relays to have a switching system and some solid power without variables and crank it up. Have some good tunes playing, barbecue, drinks, and a great time. Anyone who wants to attend can. Bring your favorite session CD or Ipod playlist and let it rip on some pro audio speakers. What does everyone think?

I have been on these boards talking about audio systems but my words are nothing compared to really putting your ears to the test.

hey ben. its been done before. it was called " the sound off" there's been three of them. two at the delta and one at spring ride. my guess is that the tower winners has always been NVS. YEAH. TRY TO TAKE THE CROWN FROM NVS NVS NVS NVS. you wet sound guys are so funny. you are the guys always saying that wet sounds are the best. i have heard both and have not yet heard wet sounds sound better or louder then nvs and iv been around the game for a while. those bullet speakers cant hang. GIVE IT UP. buy what you want. just dont get mad when a nvs boat passes you and your guest's on your boat ask you why your tower speaker aren't as loud as there's. dont blame your amp

im just joking. to compare all these speakers isnt fair because i know nvs need a lot of power. im sure if you put that type of power to those bullets they'll blow. just listen to all and come to a conclusion.

AEOM - Thanks for the feedback. I have a few questions for you since you seem to have some experience with "the sound off". Were all the speakers on the same boat, same amp, same settings.... I want to but all the speakers on a single tower with the same amp hooked up with the ability to switch between the speakers and eliminate all the variables.

Have you heard the Bullet Hollow Points? I want as much feedback as possible from the people who have heard them. I had a chance to hook them up in the sound room but have not put them on a boat yet or do a head to head to head to head with the other products out there. Thanks again for any input you might have.

Mike- thanks for the pic. Were all the speakers running from the same amp? How did you switch from one to another? Sorry for all the questions. I still can be considered a rookie to the wakeworld family.

^^^A sound room,drive way, parking lot or garage are not the way to decide on tower speakers. They will not sound the same when you're on the water. Look for an open remote area to test. Some thing like where Mikeski took his pic.

no i haven't heard those bullets. i cant see how they would be louder because of surface area alone. comparing these different speakers arent comparing apples with apples. are you trying to find the best or the best that has a 400 watt amp on it. its like drag racing. if one can run a 10 second quarter mile and the second car run's a 15. you can tell the dude with the 10 second car to just use half throttle. i heard when mike compared the wet sounds against the nvs he paid some dude with a harley to pass by when he played the wet sounds. just kidding mike.

Tower speakers should not be tested in a sound room. You can probably get better results from car speakers versus pro-audio in a sound room. I hate to say that an opinion based on what you heard in a sound room is probably worthless.

The test done above was with the speakers facing the bay where there was no wall to reflect the sound for 10 miles.

NVS makes great speakers. To be fair, all of the speaker competitions mentioned above involved boats with NVS setup and ran by professional installers working with the speaker manufacturers versus a un-tuned boat owner setups (like mine).

I think my test was fair. Same boat, same 15 second music track, same volume setting, same distance from speaker, measured with a db meter and three blind listener opinions. I was even rooting for the local team, I was surprised by my findings and ended up buying the wetsounds. Sound was the main driver in my decision but other factors that influenced my decision were ease of speaker removal and how much injury I would sustain when my head bumps into the speaker. Jerry, I was right there with you before I did my test.

Ben, pick a time and a day, I would love to hear the Hollowpoints vs Wetsounds vs NVS.

My tower has quick disconnects, we made whips for each speaker set, 15 seconds each speaker, 3 tests each speaker, then some general listening with a few favorite tracks. The music test track included highs, lows, quick transients, and vocals.

Aaron - I agree with the location making a difference. Parking lot 120 yards long will not work? What about a big park? Its hard to get everyone on the water. I want to make this open for anyone who wants to attend and I can see taking that many people out on the water.

AEOME - Should I plan on having a 1200+ watt full range amp and just see what the breaking (not literally) point is of each set?

I'm not trying to plan this as a sales pitch. If NVS comes out on top I will give props to NVS. If everyone has experienced this test and don't feel the need for another I will still do it for my knowledge. I am really curious how the Bullet stands. I've been VERY happy with Wetsounds and just want to make sure that they are still the champ from my experience. Maybe NVS. Maybe who knows.

No way to have a fair test with one amp to all the different speakers. Each speaker will want different crossover/EQ setting to sound good. One speaker is more efficient than the other...lot of things come into play.

Mikeski, If I remember correctly werent you running like 400 watts to the NVS? Wouldnt running all three speakers at the same volume level be a test of efficiency not sound loudness/quality? I would imagine some speakers sound better at louder/quieter volumes? And some better with different tracks. Really it is apples to oranges.

In addition to the Tyrants and Wetsounds we tested my 8" eminence system (in a similar configuration to Tyrants, preceeded Tyrants). My speakers had been tuned to have a softer high-end (tuned to my liking). They held their own versus the big guns to my surprise. Still not enough so to keep me from digging deep into my pockets to upgrade to the Wetsounds.

Disclaimer: These are my opinions, you probably disagree, I apologize if my opinion is not consistent with your agenda...

If your going to do a test it should be more apples to apples. The Bullet Hollow Point 770's and 650's are made to compete with the Wetsound Pro 80's and Pro 60's and other smaller "round" speakers on the tower.

The Tyrant, Pro 485, HSE are big box speakers and should have there own category.

The parts list and build details for my old speakers have been posted here a few times since 2005, hit up that search key, try "diy hlcd". There are at least to copies running around in addition to my originals that are still running on my neighbors 2002 X-Star (he loves them). FYI they are the ones on the left of my sun deck in the picture of my boat above.